There we were, at 4:30 p.m., a good 45-minute walk apart from each other, with a very long descent ahead of us. There seemed to be no other solution than for Bine to walk back up to pick me up. While we were discussing this on the phone, four young people walked by, and I immediately flagged them down. I explained the situation to them and asked if they could help. They turned out to be Polish, and they were very friendly and helpful. They were on their way down but were taking a different route, to Krma. Bine overheard my conversation with them on the phone and came up with another idea. The route to Krma was shorter than the one to Pokljuka, so he suggested I walk with the Poles, and he would also walk in that direction until we met up. Once down, we would ask friends from Bohinj to pick us up there and take us to our car, which was in Pokljuka. I was fine with anything at that point, as long as I could get down as quickly as possible and sleep in my own bed that night! The friendly Poles walked with me and helped me with a few higher steps here and there. After a good half hour of walking, we met Bine on the path, and I fell into his arms, crying. After thanking the Poles profusely, they continued on, and Bine and I slowly continued our descent. The path consisted only of loose pebbles and rocks, so I walked extra carefully, afraid of slipping. Every now and then, there was a slightly less steep section, and the walking got a bit smoother, but unfortunately, those stretches were short. After an hour or two, we reached the tree line, and the landscape became a bit greener. That immediately felt better, because I was completely fed up with all those bare rocks! But unfortunately, this didn’t mean the path got any better. We did see a beautiful chamois that stood quietly watching and grazing until we got within five meters of it. Only then did it slowly walk away. So beautiful!
The surroundings became increasingly beautiful, and luckily, I was still able to enjoy them. Fatigue was slowly starting to set in, but we had to keep going. I didn’t want to rest or stop for a bite to eat. We’d only had two protein bars after breakfast, but I simply wasn’t hungry at that moment and wanted to keep going to get down as quickly as possible. At one point, we passed a small shepherd’s hut, and afterward, we both considered asking the shepherd if we could spend the night there, but neither of us expressed it. Bine saw the altitude sign on the hut and knew we still had a long descent ahead of us, but didn’t dare mention it to me. So, we continued on.
I called our friends, who thankfully agreed to pick us up right away. Thinking we’d already come a long way, I told them we’d be down around 10:00 PM but that I’d call again an hour later when we had a better idea of where we were and how much longer we had to go. We passed through a wooded area where a lot of cows were roaming freely, including a large bull. The beast was standing on a small hill, keeping a close eye on us. Not a pleasant feeling! Carefully and as quietly as possible, but still quickly, we walked past him. Luckily, he didn’t move. Bine did have to chase away a few cows that were standing in the middle of the path. Up close, they’re damned big animals. But we got past them without a scratch and continued on. Around 9:00 PM, it started to get dark, and it became clear we wouldn’t be down by 10:00 PM. So, I called our friends again and told them it would definitely be 11:00 PM. Meanwhile, I started to get a little scared and panicky because walking down a mountain in the dark seemed terrifying and dangerous. Besides, we were now on a path between trees and bushes, with nothing but loose rocks. Sometimes it was a bit flatter, but mostly the path went down quite steeply. Luckily, Bine had brought a flashlight, which came in very handy now. Bine led the way and shone the flashlight behind him towards me, so I could see where I was going.
Our new shoes had served us well so far, but my big toes were starting to hurt quite a bit. They were becoming increasingly painful. Every now and then, we stopped for a moment, so Bine could shine the flashlight forward to see where we were going. Around every bend, we hoped we’d see the road, but no. There was simply no end to the path. My palms and wrists ached from leaning on the poles, and my muscles were so tired. Step by step, we trudged on. For a moment, we thought we could see the road, but unfortunately, it was only a few hundred meters before we ended up on the same gravel path again. 10:00 PM came, and 11:00 PM…still no end in sight. Whenever we stopped to check the road, I was wobbly on my legs. I had to keep going. I had to keep walking because otherwise I was afraid I’d fall and they’d have to come and carry me down on a stretcher. Around 11:30 a.m., we finally reached the end of the gravel path and entered a forest. That gave me a boost because I thought we were really almost there by now. After about ten minutes, a group of people with flashlights came walking up. They were doing a night walk for fun! I asked them how much longer it would take to get to the parking lot, and they said they’d be walking uphill for about 25 minutes. With renewed courage and apparently no longer thinking clearly, I called our friends to tell them we’d be there in about 20 minutes, because, well, we were walking downhill, and that’s faster. Unfortunately, we were still walking downhill three times slower than that group going uphill. So, at 1:00 a.m., we finally arrived at the parking lot where our friend F. walked towards us. I threw my arms around his neck, so happy to see him and know we were finally at the bottom! Our friend J. had very kindly brought hot tea, a sandwich, and delicious cookies. The poor couple had been sitting and waiting in their car in the dark for 2 hours! We are so grateful to them!! I struggled to climb into their high-top Jeep, and exhausted but so glad to be there, we drove the 45 minutes to our car in Pokljuka. F. and J. offered to let us stay the night at their place, but I really just wanted to get home, so at a quarter to two we finally got in our car to drive home. We’d been on our feet for 18!! hours and were both completely exhausted. We could barely keep our eyes open, and with great difficulty, stopping for 10 minutes in a parking lot to catch our breath, taking a wrong turn, and having to turn around, we finally arrived home at 4:00 a.m. on our very last ounce of energy. We quickly jumped in the shower and dove into bed. I’m incredibly proud that I made it, but what a journey it was! Without the pain in my knee, things would have been completely different, and we would have arrived back at a reasonably normal time, but oh well. After a few days, the muscle soreness was gone, and the pain in my knee has disappeared as well. I still have blue toenails however, but that’s no big deal, haha.
We’ll probably do other mountain hikes again, but shorter routes for sure! If anyone’s planning to climb Triglav, be prepared and definitely don’t take it lightly! But if you’re not afraid of heights and are in good shape, do it! It was ultimately an amazing experience 😊.
Čestitke za vztrajnost 💪🩷
Nohta ti pa znata dol past in zrast nova 🍀
Upam da ne :(. Zaenkrat še nič ne opazim.